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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26112256">you are my truest feeling yet</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/peroxideprncss/pseuds/peroxideprncss'>peroxideprncss</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Grown-up Gaang, pregnancy reveal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:02:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,900</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26112256</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/peroxideprncss/pseuds/peroxideprncss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>in which the Gaang receives some unexpected news</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang/Katara (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>173</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>you are my truest feeling yet</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>inspired by <a href="https://twitter.com/maikosupremacy/status/1293970234878042113?s=20">this tweet</a> and my <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24414697">kataang fanfic</a> of the same vein, here's the obligatory "toph as a human fetal doppler" fic - maiko version. I really hope y'all enjoy!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               Once a year, the Gaang set aside a long weekend to meet up in Ba Sing Se for a small reunion at the Jasmine Dragon, around the same time as their first celebration there at the end of the war. Even after eight years, it was a tradition they kept as if it were sacred. This year, there was a new guest joining them – Aang and Katara had welcomed their first son, Bumi, last autumn.</p><p>               It was late summer, and a beautiful sunny day. The friends were enjoying a light lunch and some of Iroh’s finest teas as they chatted casually. Bumi was passed between everyone, delighting in all the attention, before falling asleep in his mother’s arms. As the conversation turned to more political affairs (as tended to happen among them more often than not), Toph’s brow was set in a stubborn furrow as she seemed to be concentrating on something else. Finally, she let out a frustrated huff and spoke up.</p><p>               “Alright, spit it out already,” she interjected harshly, breaking up the conversation, “Who’s pregnant?”</p><p>               Everyone in the room stopped dead in their tracks, eyes and jaws equally widened. They all shared a confused look for a moment. Frustrated by the silence, the earthbender spoke again.</p><p>               “Oh, come on,” Toph snorted, “There’s only <em>two…four…eight…</em>nine people in this room, but I’m still picking up <em>ten</em> heartbeats. So, who is it?”</p><p>               The friends looked around at each other once more, still shocked. As they all traded glances, more and more of their eyes landed on the Avatar and his wife.</p><p>               “Don’t look at me,” Katara cried indignantly, gesturing to the bundle in her arms, “Bumi’s not even a year old yet!” Sokka continued to look skeptically at his sister until Toph chimed in again.</p><p>               “Alright, so it’s not Sugar Queen,” she said, turning everyone’s attention elsewhere, “Suki?”</p><p>               “Definitely not,” the Kyoshi Warrior replied quickly, “Sokka and I still aren’t married.”</p><p>               “That doesn’t mean anything,” Zuko muttered under his breath, quiet enough that only Mai and Toph picked it up. The former snickered quietly, hiding her smirk under a napkin that she brought politely up to her lips.</p><p>               “Then, it must be you, right Mai?” Aang said matter-of-factly, turning to the Fire Lady. Zuko’s expression froze once more as he turned to observe his wife’s reaction to the question. Her face remained stoic.</p><p>               “No,” she said simply, “It’s not me.”</p><p>               “This doesn’t make any sense,” Toph mused, “You’re all telling the truth…or at least you think you are.”</p><p>               “Are you sure you’re hearing things right, Toph?” Sokka asked.</p><p>               “Are you questioning the greatest earthbender in the world right now?” Toph shot back. Sokka sunk into his seat nervously. Toph ignored him, concentrating on the vibrations in the earth around her.</p><p>               “There’s for <em>sure</em> ten heartbeats,” she insisted, “Uncle closed the shop completely, right? There isn’t anyone who stayed behind to maybe help out in the kitchen?”</p><p>               “No, just me back there,” Iroh answered as he re-entered the room, “Why do you ask?”</p><p>               “Toph is convinced she’s hearing an extra heartbeat,” Katara explained, “Which means someone here is pregnant.”</p><p>               “Are we <em>sure</em> it’s not Katara?” Sokka offered, only to cry out in protest a second later when a water whip smacked his ear. How she managed to bend so precisely with a sleeping baby in her arms, he’d never know.</p><p>               “<em>Positive</em>,” his sister replied sternly.</p><p>               Toph dug her heels a little deeper into the floor, tiles cracking as her feet manipulated the earth below them.</p><p>               “Sorry, Uncle,” she apologized quickly to Iroh before furrowing her brow in concentration once more. After a few moments, her eyes widened in surprise.</p><p>               “I know who it is,” she announced.</p><p>               “Who is it?” multiple voices demanded at once.</p><p>               “Well, considering you’re all so convinced that you’re <em>not</em> pregnant,” Toph said, “I don’t think it’d be fair for me to just blurt out such a life-changing secret right now in front of everyone.”</p><p>               “That’s no fun,” Sokka whined.</p><p>               “You also say that as if we all wouldn’t be the first ones to know anyway,” Aang offered.</p><p>               “Just because you sent the announcement practically the day Bumi was conceived doesn’t mean other people wouldn’t want to keep it to themselves for a little while first,” Zuko teased.</p><p>               “Alright, well, it was only bothering me that I couldn’t figure out who it was,” Toph announced, “But now that I know, I’m satisfied. Obviously, whoever it is will find out soon enough on their own anyway, so let’s just change the subject for now.”</p><p>               “I second a change of subject,” Mai chimed in, her voice its usual monotone. Not wanting to argue with her, the group agreed, moving the discussion to another matter.</p>
<hr/><p>               A few hours later, as the sun was setting and most of the friends were gathered to watch an intense Pai Sho match between Zuko and Iroh, Katara pulled Toph aside.</p><p>               “It <em>isn’t</em> me, is it?” she asked the earthbender in a hushed, but worried tone, “Aang and I have discussed having more kids, but we weren’t planning on it quite so soon after Bumi –”</p><p>               “Relax, Sweetness,” Toph cut her off, “It’s not you.” Katara breathed a sigh of relief. Before she could open her mouth, Toph spoke again.</p><p>               “I’m not telling you who it is, though.”</p><p>               “I wasn’t going to ask that,” Katara feigned innocence before re-joining the group around the Pai Sho table. Toph chuckled under her breath before following her. As she approached, she heard a frustrated sigh from the Fire Lord.</p><p>               “Good game, Nephew,” Iroh announced as he cleared the board, “You’re getting better, but you still have a ways to go before you can beat an old master like me.”</p><p>               “Sometimes I don’t think I’ll ever beat you,” Zuko replied, standing from his seat, “Anyone else wanna play?” Suki decided she was going to take the challenge and sat herself down in his previous spot. Zuko took Mai by the arm and led her out to the balcony.</p><p>               “Zuko, you know I hate the sunset,” Toph heard Mai complain. Zuko chuckled affectionately in return.</p><p>               “I thought you just hated orange sunsets,” he replied, “This one is more pink.”</p><p>               “Why would you think that I’d prefer pink?”</p><p>               “Well, even if you don’t,” Zuko planted a soft kiss on his wife’s cheek, “I think it looks beautiful on you.”</p><p>               From a distance, Toph smiled on the scene, hovering in the doorway to the balcony. She let the couple have another moment alone before she approached from behind.</p><p>               “Hey, Toph,” Zuko greeted her without turning around to face her. Sometimes, the earthbender wondered if he had an extra sense as well.</p><p>               “Sorry to interrupt,” she said, “But I wanted to tell you guys something.”</p><p>               “Okay,” Zuko shrugged, him and Mai now both turning towards her.</p><p>               “It’s you,” Toph offered simply. It took a few moments for the earlier conversation to return to their minds, and it seemed the Fire Lady registered what her friend meant first.</p><p>               “Me?” Mai asked hesitantly. Toph nodded once, and couldn’t help a smile from spreading across her face.</p><p>               “But,” Mai protested, “The court healers already told us we weren’t successful this month. They’re starting to think I might not…” She trailed off, already uncomfortable with how much she’d revealed.</p><p>               “Are you <em>sure</em>, Toph?” Zuko asked seriously, now caught up to the meaning of the conversation. Toph stepped closer, and extended her hand out toward Mai.</p><p>               “Can I?” she asked quietly. Mai hesitated, then agreed, taking Toph’s wrist and guiding her hand toward her abdomen. The second she touched her friend, Toph let out an amazed chuckle.</p><p>               “Absolutely positive,” she declared.</p><p>               “Oh,” Mai sighed in wonder. She turned to meet her husband’s watery gaze, and they stared at each other in disbelief.</p><p>               “I’ll give you two a minute alone,” Toph offered, already backing away. She was then abruptly pulled into a tight embrace by Zuko.</p><p>               “Thank you, Toph,” he said in a thick voice, “Thank you.” Once he let go of her, Toph offered him a smile and an affectionate punch to the bicep.</p><p>               “My lips are sealed,” she promised before heading back into the shop, where luckily the rest of their friends were too engaged in the Pai Sho match to notice the conversation on the balcony.</p><p>               Zuko then turned back to Mai, who was still looking completely shell-shocked by the news. He cradled her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers fervently. After a second, Mai melted into his embrace and smiled into their kiss. Tears began to flow freely from both of them, and when they broke apart for a brief moment, Zuko wiped Mai’s away with the pads of his thumbs.</p><p>               “I can’t believe it,” he chuckled. Mai nodded in agreement.</p><p>               “I was starting to think that this day would never come for us,” she replied, tears still falling steadily down her cheeks. Zuko’s answer was to kiss her again, and again. The two remained wrapped up in one another until the sun finally dipped below the horizon.</p><p>               “If Your Highnesses would like to grace us with your presence,” they heard Sokka’s voice call from behind them, “We’re turning in for the night and at least wanted to say goodbye before you head out tomorrow.” The spell broken, Mai and Zuko shared one last gaze and a deep breath, then strolled back inside the shop.</p><p>               “We don’t have to say anything right away,” Zuko whispered as they walked, “It’s totally up to you.”</p><p>               “I’m sure some of them have already figured it out by now,” Mai answered in her own hushed tone. Nevertheless, they agreed with another shared look that they’d keep the news to themselves for now. That is, until Mai observed her husband’s heartfelt goodbye to his uncle.</p><p>               “I miss you, Uncle,” she heard Zuko say, “I promise we’ll try to visit more often than we have been.”</p><p>               “I understand, Nephew,” Iroh replied, “Whether you’re here or not, my thoughts are always with you.” The man broke the embrace partly to turn his attention to Mai.</p><p>               “Both of you,” he said. At this, Mai bit her lip to keep it from quivering before rushing into the hug to embrace them.</p><p>               “Mai?” Zuko asked with a slight chuckle, taken aback by her reaction.</p><p>               “We at least have to tell Uncle,” she responded, her voice thick with emotion.</p><p>               “Tell me what?” Iroh asked with a smile. The trio broke apart, and Zuko shared another look with his wife. She nodded to him encouragingly, wiping away a stray tear that had managed to fall.</p><p>               “I’m going to be a father,” Zuko announced softly, “Mai’s pregnant.”</p><p>               “Oh, my boy!” Iroh exclaimed, pulling his nephew into another crushing embrace, which Zuko returned in earnest. Iroh then turned to embrace Mai as well, albeit a bit more gently.</p><p>               “I am so very happy for you,” Iroh said, now openly weeping with happiness. Mai was no longer trying to hide her own tears, as they had begun falling steadily once again. At this point, everyone’s eyes were on them, but she just couldn’t care.</p><p>               “Are congratulations in order?” Katara asked expectantly. Zuko chuckled and turned toward the group of eager friends. Before he could say anything, his wife was chiming in.</p><p>               “I’m the pregnant one,” Mai said, completely failing to hide her smile as everyone cheered and swarmed in for a suffocatingly affectionate group hug.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>title is a lyric from "sunshine riptide" by fall out boy</p></blockquote></div></div>
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